Orange County Community College
STRATEGIC PLAN
An institution of higher education established by the authority of the
State University of New York and sponsored by the county of Orange.
Founded in 1950.
Prepared for: Orange County Community College, Bill Richards, President,
115 South Street, Middletown, New York, 10940
January 5, 2005
Prepared by: Dr. John Lee, JBL Associates,
6900 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 606, Bethesda, Maryland, 20815
Main Campus Newburgh Extension Center Satellite Campuses
115 South Street One Washington Center Port Jervis
Middletown, NY 10940 Newburgh, NY 12550 Central Valley
Warwick
Executive Summary
The philosophic underpinning for this Strategic Plan is clearly delineated in the Col-
lege’s statements of mission, vision and values. Those statements describe an institu-
tion committed to access for all citizens and to the highest standards of academic rigor
in a caring environment. The College has also committed itself to the shepherding of
public resources in the most effective and efficient manner possible while creating and
maintaining a collegial environment that respects and encourages diversity of thought
and manner. Realizing the vision of being the best college in the SUNY System and
the college of choice for all Orange County citizens sets an ambitious challenge for the
College that will inform and enrich its future.
This Strategic Plan broadly defines the activities that will improve educational quality,
increase accessibility and support growth in a cost-effective manner. It identifies stra-
tegic priorities that will guide the College on its journey to the next levels of excel-
lence and quality of service. Progress toward fulfilling these priorities will ensure that
the College continues to be a …“strategic force in enhancing the quality of life in Or-
ange County and beyond.” (Vision). Fully realized, the Plan sharpens a view of the
College as it will appear in 2010.
This Plan is also aligned with the seven initiatives of the Master Plan for Community
Colleges of the State University of New York (SUNY), 2005-2009.
The Strategic Plan has three primary themes:
• Improve students’ persistence and academic success so that their
intellectual challenge and other experiences at the College will be
“…among their most richly rewarding.” (Vision)
• Provide “ a symphony of opportunity for all citizens…” by expanding
the availability of programs and services for those citizens’ personal
and professional growth. Such availability includes improving geographic
accessibility by upgrading current facilities at Middletown and building
a new campus in Newburgh and enriching the technology environment
throughout the College.
• Increase the effectiveness of all College operations in order to fulfill
our promise to “…be the most efficient in shepherding resources.”
(Vision)
2
Strategic Priorities
The Strategic Plan focuses the College’s energy and strength on five priorities:
I. Develop and implement an Academic Master Plan that guides the renewal of current
programs and services, the development of new programs and services, and formulizes
the allocation of resources effectively. The Academic Plan will be supported by:
• Facilities Plan that focuses on capital improvements at the Middletown campus
and the development of a new campus at Newburgh
• Technology Plan that enriches the learning environment, creates easier access to
the College and strengthens administrative functions
• Resource Development Plan that augments the College’s regular revenue streams
and is aligned with these strategic priorities
• Enrollment Management Plan that increases marketing and recruitment effectiveness
and improves student persistence and academic success
II. Increase the effectiveness of planning and resource allocation for all College
operations. Such an approach has three components:
• Expand the scope of responsibility and authority of the Planning Committee
• Improve the collection, usefulness and availability of planning data
• Develop and integrate into the operating life of the College the responses to issues
raised by the Middle States Association’s Commission on Higher Education
III. Provide adequate resources to allow the College to realize its strategic goals.
IV. Review and realign the missions, operations and staffing levels of all College
departments in light of the strategic priorities.
V. Provide a clear, consistent and compelling presentation of the College, its pro-
grams and services.
3
Introduction
The overall purpose of this Strategic Plan is to guide the College in the improvement of
educational opportunity for all citizens of Orange County. Achieving this goal will re-
quire the College to consistently improve the quality and breadth of educational pro-
grams and services and to review the effectiveness of those efforts in a timely and
thoughtful manner. Such reviews will be strengthened by clear and justifiable measures
of effectiveness. In order to be fully successful, though, the College will focus its en-
ergy, wisdom and resources through this Plan, guided by the philosophy of the state-
ments of mission, vision and values. The College will:
1. achieve its core goals in the most cost-effective manner possible while enriching the quality
of its programs. Part of the mission is to increase the effectiveness of all College operations in
order to fulfill our promise to “… be the most efficient in shepherding public resources.”
2. implement this Strategic Plan in a collegial manner, adopting a process of planning and re-
source allocation that will inspire confidence in every member of the College community re-
garding the effectiveness of all College operations. In order to achieve this goal, the College
will expand the scope of responsibility and authority of the Planning Committee and improve
the collection, usefulness and availability of planning data. The planning process needs to start
by developing and integrating into the operating life of the College responses to the Commission
on Higher Education of the Middle States Association.
3. continue to build on its considerable strengths, not least of which is a very positive academic
reputation. The faculty and staff have maintained a consistent commitment to students and their
education, even during periods when academic leadership was in transition. The College is gen-
erally well-received in the community at large, and by the high schools and other colleges in the
region.
4. strengthen the commitment to staff and faculty members. They have been, and will continue
to be, the heart of the College and are responsible for the success of its programs and services.
The planning process and the decisions that flow from it should allow for broad participation
and provide for a collegial process of involvement. A continuing goal of the institution should
be adequate recognition and reward for a committed staff and faculty.
The Strategic Plan defines key decisions and activities that will continue to enrich the
character of the College and define its central place within the community. Major goals
include the refurbishment of facilities at the Middletown campus and the development
of a new campus at Newburgh. In addition, the College will institute a systematic strat-
egy to improve the success of students. Finally, the College will realign the curriculum
to better serve the community, including the development of the richest catalog of of-
ferings feasible.
Before describing the details of the five strategic priorities, however, a brief description
of the public context within which the College strives toward its mission will serve to
ground these priorities in local realities.
4
The Community Context
POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS
All research conducted for this Plan supports what the Trustees and College faculty
and staff have known by intuition and experience for several years - that the student
body at the College will continue to grow and that the ethnic, academic and economic
diversity of those students will continue to broaden. At the same time, the Middletown
Campus is not only approaching enrollment capacity but has many facilities in need of
refurbishing. The current Newburgh satellite is actually past enrollment capacity and
the current leased facilities are no longer appropriate for the types of programs and ser-
vices that are needed in the eastern sector of the County. The College needs to plan for
this continuing increase in enrollment and diversity by enhancing its offerings at all
sites, by upgrading facilities at the Middletown Campus, by building a new campus at
Newburgh, and by investing more heavily in technology-based delivery methods in
order to allow all citizens access to the rich learning environment at the College.
Orange County has had healthy population growth over the past ten years. It is, in fact,
the fastest-growing county in New York and is projected to remain so by State and
Federal projections for the next twenty years. Orange County is on the outer circle of
New York City community growth and is attracting an increasing number of commut-
ers. The number of Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans is growing faster than
the White, non-Hispanic population. The County is also a relocation site for many
Eastern European immigrants displaced by the past thirty years of war and economic
instability in that region. This Strategic Plan, especially the Academic Master Plan and
its constituent parts, will address the varied needs of this growing and very diverse
population. (See Appendix B: External Environment)
The growth in theCounty is pushingthe existingMiddletown
campustoits capacity.
The growth in the County is pushing the existing Middletown campus to its capacity.
The number of full-time students attending the College increased by 17 percent be-
tween 1998 and 2003, and that growth will continue unabated. (Indeed, during the
months that this Plan was being created, the College experienced another 4.5% overall
increase in enrollment and the Newburgh satellite enrollment increased 8%.) Based on
previous growth patterns, the Orange County population could increase by 15 to 20
percent (50,000 to 70,000 people) over the next 10 years. Another indicator of poten-
tial enrollment growth is the fact that Orange County loses annually more than 1,000
full-time-equivalent (FTE) students to other counties; this is over twice as many as the
county imports from other counties. Improving accessibility and increasing the
breadth of offerings will help reverse this loss.
New capital projects funded by economic developers, public agencies and private sec-
5
The Community Context (cont.)
tor leaders in the region provide a leading edge indicator of future employment and
growth. Newburgh leads on this indicator at $26.8 million, followed by Middletown at
$16.6 million and Port Jervis at $1.8 million.
The largest growth area in Orange County is Newburgh, which is home to the largest
satellite branch of the College. While Newburgh has been in economic decline for the
past thirty years, the City continues to grow at a steady pace and has very recently
shown signs of economic recovery. Newburgh has a higher concentration of racially
diverse and economically depressed residents than the rest of the County. Within the
past five years, however, the value of property in sections of Newburgh, especially
those along the waterfront of the Hudson River, have experienced substantial increases.
New businesses are emerging and the Newburgh region is at the center of the nation’s
fastest-growing advanced technology corridor, located between Manhattan and Albany.
Among the College’s strategic priorities, the concentration on the campus at Newburgh
will not only provide educational access to the fastest-growing and most richly diverse
segment of the County but will contribute significantly to the economic revitalization of
one of the region’s most depressed areas. (See Appendix I: Newburgh Environment)
Commuting is an important consideration for students in Orange County because of a
very limited public transportation infrastructure and the fact that so many students work
while attending college. Providing the option to attend the College in different parts of
the County will increase opportunity for students who cannot now attend the Middle-
town campus where the concentration of programs and services still resides. (See Ap-
pendix J: Newburgh Extension Center)
6
The Community Context (cont.)
EMPLOYERS
Orange County Community College needs to develop and promote programs that meet
Orange County employer needs, and to become so effective in this effort that those
needs will be anticipated, relieving the business owner of tracking the education and
training needs of employees altogether.
Employers in Orange County have a positive image of the College, but feel that the
College needs to work more closely with the business community to develop programs
that serve employers’ needs. Their suggestions identify a need for the College to de-
velop a more complete offering of shorter certificate programs and delivery methods
more in keeping with the demanding schedules of the workforce. (See Appendix K:
Interviews with Orange County Government Representatives and Area Business Lead-
ers)
The most significant challenge in meeting this need is that 98 percent of all private sec-
tor businesses in Orange County have fewer than 100 employees, making it difficult to
define a common curriculum or develop effective contract educational opportunities for
the employers. The Academic Plan will address the considerable workforce develop-
ment and corporate training challenges that exist in the County by engaging in more
collaboration with County and State agencies, through more complementary program-
ming with the Orange and Ulster County BOCES, and with the corporate world itself.
A more aggressive grants effort will be part of the Resource Development Plan concen-
trated on this sector.
OTHER SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Generally, representatives from other colleges have a favorable impression of Orange
County Community College and report that transfer students do well. They suggest that
more systematic coordination could improve the transfer process and help Orange
County Community College students make the transition to the new campus more eas-
ily. Colleges and universities in the region include Dominican College, Marist College,
Mt. Saint Mary College, Pace University, St. Thomas Aquinas College and SUNY New
Paltz. (See Appendix G: Interviews with College Representatives)
OCCC losesover 1,000students annuallywho areOrange Countyresidents,
butattend community colleges inother counties.
Orange County Community College should set up a systematic way to communicate
with high schools about their programs. This would provide an opportunity to improve
alignment of high school programs with college requirements. It will also provide a
feedback loop about how high school graduates are doing at Orange County Commu-
nity College. Finally, open communication with high schools will provide a means to
7
The Community Context (cont.)
help improve student support services for incoming students. (See Appendix F: Inter-
views with High School Representatives)
The Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) is an educational partner in
the community. Orange County Community College should work with BOCES to
identify programs that the College could offer that would complement training provided
by BOCES. (See Appendix H: Newburgh Group Interviews and Appendix K: Inter-
views with Orange County Government Representatives and Area Business Leaders)
Orange County Community College loses annually over 1,000 students who are Orange
County residents, but attend community colleges in other counties. An analysis of edu-
cational offerings at those colleges reveals programs that may be drawing students from
Orange County Community College. Some may be leaving because other campuses are
more convenient than Middletown. (See Appendix B: External Environment and Ap-
pendix M: Functional Area Profile)
The Strategic Plan defines five priorities that will shape the approach that the College
will take to achieve these goals. Even though the priorities are presented separately,
they define an integrated set of activities that complement each other.
8
Strategic Priorities
I. Develop and implement an Academic Master Plan and four supporting plans
A primary strategic component is the development and implementation of an Academic
Master Plan that sets priorities and aligns programs and services with student and com-
munity needs. The College will evaluate its existing programs and services to deter-
mine if they are serving community needs in a cost-effective manner at the highest level
of quality possible. The Master Plan will also strengthen the College’s commitment to
rigorous learning in the Arts and Sciences as an end in itself, and in so doing, enrich the
st
support of a technological environment consistent with engaging the 21 century stu-
dent.
The Plan’s priorities will also ensure that:
• existing programs are current and relevant,
• new programs complement and broaden those existing or address a new and compelling
community need,
• delivery methods and student support strategies meet future instructional requirements and
the needs of current and emerging disciplines.
(See Appendix E: Financial Indicators and Appendix H: Newburgh Group Interviews)
Academic transfer
The College will continue to enhance and broaden articulation agreements with senior
colleges in the region (SUNY New Paltz, Marist College, Mount St. Mary College) and
colleges outside the region in order to facilitate the transfer of graduates in the most ef-
ficient manner possible. The singular purpose of such agreements is to ensure that
courses offered by the College transfer with full credit toward a major. More specific
recommendations are included in the appendices.
Certificate programs
While the College has had much success in the transferability of academic programs
and courses, it has placed less emphasis on certificates and workforce development pro-
grams. Not surprisingly, enrollment in certificate programs has been declining. (See
Appendix C: Orange County Community College Enrollment Figures)
Meeting the County’s workforce development needs will be an important commitment
of the College that will further its mission to enrich economic opportunity. To that end,
the Center for Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE) will collaborate more
closely with County and State agencies and with the business community in general to
9
Strategic Priorities (cont.)
analyze market needs and provide education and training programs that will ensure the
availability of a highly-skilled, highly-adaptive workforce in the future. CAPE’s opera-
tional signature will be characterized by a spirit of entrepreneurial creativity and out-
come-centered offerings tailored to the needs of industry sectors and individual compa-
nies. To begin, CAPE will prepare a business plan that defines its place in the Aca-
demic Master Plan, specify the costs and revenue potential of current and proposed pro-
grams and predict a point at which its operation will be self-supporting. The business
plan will also describe the relationship between CAPE programming and the plan for
development of credit programs and services. Equally rigorous, business-specific
evaluation processes will ensure the quality and effectiveness of CAPE’s efforts. (See
Appendix H: Newburgh Group Interviews)
Facilities Plan
The College will update its facilities master plan to include major capital priorities for
existing campus facilities at Middletown and include planning support for a new cam-
pus at Newburgh. The update process will complement the academic mission state-
ment, support that statement’s view of the College in 2010, provide appropriate and
modern space for program growth and attend to facilities’ standards as set forth by such
policy of the State University of New York. (See Appendix C: Orange County Com-
munity College Enrollment Figures)
Architectural and space planning for the campus at Newburgh should begin immedi-
ately in order to create documentation about programming, enrollment estimates, initial
and projected staffing levels, and other operational matters necessary for securing the
support of the County Legislature and other sources of revenue and comply with the
standards and policies of the SUNY System. Throughout the process, systematic inclu-
sion of community voices will assure that the new campus serves the diverse interests
of Newburgh citizens and strengthens community support and ownership of the Cam-
pus. (See Appendix D: Facilities Plan)
Technology Plan
The College will create a Technology Master Plan to enrich learning environments, cre-
ate new avenues of access for all citizens and enhance administrative effectiveness. The
Plan will emphasize ease of communications, attend to network design and architecture,
survey employees on usage and equipment needs, define future capacity needs, and de-
fine a technology replacement cycle. The Plan will also address the professional devel-
opment of employees and provide specific support for elements of the Academic Mas-
ter Plan.
10
Strategic Priorities (cont.)
Resource Development Plan
The College’s three sources of revenue – State and County allocations and student tui-
tion and fees – will not provide adequate funding for strategic priorities. A Resource
Development Plan will describe strategies for securing additional resources from public
and private foundations, guide grant-writing efforts, and establish planned-giving goals.
A detailed capital campaign will augment goals described in the facilities plan. All such
strategies will also be coordinated with the goals of the College Foundation and the
Alumni Association.
Enrollment Management and Retention
The College has a well-deserved reputation for the rigor of its academic environment,
program quality and the caring support of students. Graduates who transfer to other col-
leges are among the most successful in the SUNY System and speak of their experi-
ences at the College with warmth and a high degree of respect for the faculty.
The rate ofstudentsentering developmental programs...currently
representsabout43% of allnew students.
Perhaps the most significant challenge facing the College now and for the foreseeable
future, though, is the increase in the numbers of incoming students who are academi-
cally unprepared to compete at the freshman level. Evidence suggests that the problem
will progressively worsen. The rate of students entering developmental programs grew
at twice the rate of enrollment increases between 1998 and 2003 and currently repre-
sents about 43% of all new students. (See Appendix C: Orange County Community
College Enrollment Figures). Most of the skill deficiencies are in reading comprehen-
sion and writing, but also include math deficiencies. Among some 13% of new stu-
dents, these deficiencies are severe. Such students are at a very high risk of failure.
To help students cope with deficiencies, the College has several intervention programs,
including tutorials and writing and math labs, and also has special services for disabled
students.
Improving student success will require student services and academic programs to work
closely together to lower the student loss rate. To that end, the College will review its
current student support structures, establish and fund appropriate strategies for enroll-
ment management and improve student persistence and academic success. The process
should start with an assessment of current programs (advising, remediation, student aid,
tutorials, etc.) that are designed to help students in order to determine how they work
together and how they can be improved and integrated from a student perspective. The
11
Strategic Priorities (cont.)
student success plan should include a comprehensive evaluation procedure to determine
which programs are making a positive difference, which need to be modified or
dropped and what types of programs should be added. Such efforts will be greatly
aided by the addition of technology-based solutions for academic decision-making,
tracking of progress and advising.
II. Implement collegial processes to ensure effective planning, resource allocation
and critical review of all College operations
Expand the scope of responsibility and authority of the Planning Committee
The College will expand the current planning effort by creating a Planning, Budget and
Institutional Effectiveness Committee, which will provide oversight for the Strategic
Plan and establish links between other governance committees and the President’s
Cabinet in planning matters. This committee will have responsibility for recommending
planning priorities, allocating resources to support strategic priorities and analyzing
progress toward the achievement of those priorities.
Two issues need to be addressed if Orange County Community College is to implement
an effective planning process. The first is an improvement of planning data and the
second is the use of systematic program evaluation.
Improve the collection, usefulness and availability of planning data
In order to improve planning and implement an effective evaluation system, the College
will improve the storage and availability of planning data and information sets by creat-
ing a central management information system and implementing a training system for
those employees who need data to inform decisions. When completed, the master plan-
ning data system will provide an annual state-of-the-campus report to help track pro-
gress on strategic priorities.
Systematic evaluation
Key objectives need to be identified in a way that allows institutional progress to be
measured. The indicators of progress toward achieving strategic goals should be clear
and be provided on a regular basis. The measures of progress should be used by the
Planning Committee in their decision-making process. Indicators should include quali-
tative evaluations of progress that will complement the regular quantitative measures.
Examples of indicators include student persistence rates, percent of county high school
graduates that attend Orange County Community College or the percent increase in stu-
dents enrolled in new certificate classes.
12
Strategic Priorities (cont.)
Develop and integrate into the operating life of the College the responses to the
issues raised by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States As-
sociation
As Orange County Community College sets its strategic direction, it must take into ac-
count two external review and planning documents resulting from the Middle States
Accreditation review and the SUNY System Mission Review I and accompanying
Memorandum of Understanding, along with preparation for SUNY System Mission Re-
view II.
The Middle States Accreditation Review identified several areas of concern that date
back to the previous accreditation process completed in 1993. The four major areas of
concern are:
• Outcomes data
• Communication and teamwork
• Faculty and staff development
• Advising
The accrediting team noted the “shortage of clearly organized data, which could be ana-
lyzed to demonstrate that the college is doing what it says it does.” Orange County
Community College is in the process of addressing these issues.
In December 2000, the college signed a Memorandum of Understanding resulting from
the SUNY System Mission Review process. Goals were established to:
• Ensure open access for high school graduates and individuals recently released from
military service
• Define student outcomes, including the documentation of student educational and career
goals and the strategies for helping students achieve their goals with links to improving
educational and support programs
• Develop plans to foster faculty development and scholarship
• Continue intercampus collaboration, particularly with major transfer institutions
• Set clear academic program directions, including the development of new and revised
programs to meet regional needs and distance education
• Improve infrastructure and technology
In addition to advancing the goals of Mission Review I, the college must also prepare
for the SUNY system’s Mission Review II, Rethinking SUNY. The System has estab-
lished the context for this process, and institutions will be asked to develop plans to:
13
Strategic Priorities (cont.)
• Encourage improvements in the quality and diversity of the student body
• Give emphasis to the quality, diversity and reputation of faculty
• Strengthen the value and reputation of academic programs
• Improve student outcomes/success
• Ensure that technology infrastructure supports academic excellence
• Make certain that facilities support academic excellence
• Establish academic excellence through administrative and resource support
• Provide a vibrant environment to support academic excellence through community
contributions.
(See Appendix A: Accreditation and Mission Reviews)
III. Provide adequate resources to allow the College to realize its strategic goals
Orange County Community College needs todiversify fundingsources.
Orange County Community College needs to diversify funding sources and increase
revenue to complement funds from state, county and tuition sources. Diversification
will protect the college from unexpected losses in any single revenue source. Orange
County Community College should define a plan for developing alternative revenue
sources. Several have been mentioned in different parts of the strategic plan. They in-
clude increasing federal and state grants, developing contract training programs or self-
supporting certificate programs that may provide revenue for other college functions,
and pursuing private gifts. (See Appendix F: Financial Indicators)
Fundraising needs to be aligned with strategic objectives. Grant writing and develop-
ment activities need to be consistently related to raising funds to support the objectives
that guide the development of the college.
Board members, as advocates for the college, should provide leadership in securing
adequate funding from state, county and private sources by lobbying on behalf of the
college in appropriate venues. Members of the foundation and the alumni group should
become more directly involved in planning and implementing a fundraising campaign
to help diversify funding.
New opportunities for contract training and other services to local organizations should
be identified. The college can seek government funding to provide small business as-
sistance, and pursue community development and other community support projects to
help supplement general revenue.
14
Strategic Priorities (cont.)
IV. Review the missions, operations and staffing levels of all College departments
in light of strategic priorities
At the core of the strategic plan is the necessity of making systematic decisions that,
over time, will lead to achievement of the stated goals. This requires that every opera-
tion within the college be reviewed periodically to determine the degree to which it is
contributing to the achievement of the strategic goals of the institution. This process
has already started with the implementation of the Academic Master Plan. The same
standards should be applied to all of the administrative functions of the college.
Human resourcesshould undertake a systematic
examinationof staffingand workloadsin different
officesto identify hiringpriorities.
An examination of salaries and workload is an important part of the process because so
much of the college’s budget is spent on salaries. Historically, Orange County Com-
munity College has implemented budget cuts by instituting a series of hiring freezes.
Over the years, this has resulted in uneven staffing levels across offices. Some key of-
fices are understaffed, which limits their effectiveness.
Staffing levels for departments should be evaluated with consideration for activities that
could be streamlined by the use of technology. Examples include the admission, advis-
ing and registration processes that could be supported by more effective use of technol-
ogy. Streamlining the admission process would also save student time, which should
be an important consideration in the evaluation of college operations.
Human resources should undertake a systematic examination of staffing and workloads
in different offices to identify hiring priorities. Staffing decisions should reflect the
strategic priorities of the college. Faculty workload measures should also be included
as part of the academic planning process. (See Appendix C: Orange County Commu-
nity College Enrollment Figures)
The planning process should use systematic evaluation to identify areas in the college’s
operation that are ineffective or do not contribute to achieving the strategic goals of the
college. The program review process should be implemented as part of the planning
and budgeting calendar. Every effort should be made to find operations that can be
streamlined or made more productive using technology. Savings realized from making
these decisions can be utilized to increase support for critical institutional activities.
15
Strategic Priorities (cont.)
V. Provide a clear, consistent and compelling presentation of the College
The perception of Orange County Community College in the community is generally
positive. Some issues that should be addressed include:
• outreach to the increasingly diverse community, especially the non-
English speaking community
• information on the website should be consistent with the catalogue
• the website should be up-to-date and easy for users to navigate.
Communication goes beyond the formal media materials produced by the college. Sys-
tematic personal contacts should be made with high school counselors and other college
and university admissions offices in the area. High school graduates would benefit
from a seamless connection to Orange County Community College. The process
would also improve continuity for those students who continue their education after at-
tending Orange County Community College by providing guidance on financing, living
and social expectations.
Involvement of community groups in the planning process will increase community
support for the College and its budget. Employers, non-profit organizations and gov-
ernment agencies all provide points of contact for such involvement. A College em-
ployee should be given responsibility for contacts with key external constituencies.
Impediments to achieving strategic goals
Achieving these goals will require Orange County Community College to respond to
some important internal and external challenges.
• Funding from the state is flat to declining and will probably not improve
markedly
• An institutional history of inconsistent planning
• Cumbersome management information system that limits planning capacity
• Middletown facilities, including the technology base, are aging and need to
be reviewed and updated
• Inconsistent availability and utilization of educational technology
• Low rates of student retention
• A growing county population, with increasing racial and ethnic diversity
• Employers in Orange County tend to be small businesses, with diverse needs
that are hard to define and meet
16
Orange County Community College in Five Years
In the next five years, the Orange County Community College system will be recog-
nized not only for the high quality of its programs, but for providing a wide range of
educational opportunities to students from varying economic and academic back-
grounds.
County citizens will serve on advisory boards that provide meaningful advice on opera-
tional and policy issues. They will work with college departments and offices to de-
velop new curricula, improve student job placement and internships and, in some cases,
provide teachers for specialized courses. The community advisors will also serve as
proponents of the college in political and community settings.
Orange County Community College will have a revitalized campus in Middletown, and
the new, fully-functioning campus in Newburgh will serve as an educational and cul-
tural hub for that part of the County. That new campus will also contribute signifi-
cantly to the economic revitalization of the greater Newburgh area.
As the College achieves substantial progress on these strategic priorities, its consider-
able reputation for excellence will be further enhanced and it will be identified as a
model for innovative programs and efficient operation at state and national levels. The
overall health of current academic and technical programs will be improved, placing the
College in an even more advantageous position to serve tomorrow’s students. Those
strengthened programs, along with easier access to the College and improved services,
will ensure that the dedication embodied in the statements of mission, vision and values
will continue to be the hallmarks which identify the College as being among the best in
America.
17